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Topic: Pickup self destructing! |
Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 8:55 am |
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| The pickup windings on my C6 neck (LeGrande II) are coming loose from under the tape. Should I have this rewound or replace the pickup? |
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Eric West
From:
Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 9:49 am
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Yes.
EJL |
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Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 9:58 am
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| Thanks a lot, Eric. Could you be more definitive? |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 10:24 am
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Steve,
If it still works you could tape it back up and see how it sounds. I'll bet its toast. If you need the guitar for making money you should have the pickup replaced or repaired pronto.
------------------
Bob
upcoming gigs
My Website
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Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 10:41 am
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| Thanks, Bob. And Eric, when I re-read my post, I realized that my question wasn't very definitive. I should have asked, which is preferable, to replace the pickup or to have it re-wound? [This message was edited by Steve Hitsman on 04 July 2006 at 11:42 AM.] |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 10:47 am
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| A rewind would be the less expensive choice---Jerry Wallace would be a great option. But you will have a hole in your guitar while you wait. So a new pickup might be the only choice. Bob & Eric both have the answer---yes, you need to do something about it. It's just a question of whether you can live with the downtime of having you pickup out for maintenance. |
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Jerry Roller
From:
Van Buren, Arkansas USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 11:31 am
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Steve, if the pickup still works and doesn't sound thin and/or weak, you can very carefully wrap black tape around it making sure you get all the wires covered. A lot of pickups are loose wound. Just don't press against the tape enough to break a tiny wire. You could test the ohms reading of the pickup to see if part of the winding is shorted. Normally, if a pickup up coil is broken it will not show a reading on the meter.
Jerry |
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Mickey Lawson
From:
Cleveland, Tennessee, USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 1:14 pm
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| An old Guitar Player article said to wax loose guitar pickup windings. I have masked (taped), up the top of the pickup, and carefully dipped it into melted parafin, with no damage to pickup. Then carefully replaced the black vinyl tape. [This message was edited by Mickey Lawson on 04 July 2006 at 02:20 PM.] |
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Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 1:32 pm
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| Thanks boys. Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of before removing the pickup? Or is it a pretty straight-forward operation? |
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Jerry Roller
From:
Van Buren, Arkansas USA
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 1:44 pm
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Steve, what kind of guitar is it? Can you get to and remove the (4?) screws that attach the pickup to an adjustable plate? If so, a neat trick is to take one screw out at a time and in its place put a one inch long screw (must have same threads). When all 4 are replaced with the 1" studs which will hold the springs and spacers in place for you. Now just lift the pickup out of it's cavity enough to carefully apply the tape. Make sure everything such as the springs and spacers are still in place on the studs and set the pickup back over the studs and replace the studs one at a time with the mounting screws. Don't try to get the tape too tight because the wire is about .044 gauge and very easily broken and very hard to fix. Also, chances are the pickup bobin is plastic so be careful not to overtighten he mounding sctews. All this is assuming that the pickup sounds good but you have concerns that the coil wires are showing. Let us know how it turns out. Also, please understand that I think Jerry Wallace is great winding pickups and you would certainly have a good one if you had him rewind it.
jery
[This message was edited by Jerry Roller on 04 July 2006 at 02:48 PM.] [This message was edited by Jerry Roller on 04 July 2006 at 07:42 PM.] |
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Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 4 Jul 2006 6:26 pm
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Jerry,
Thanks for the tip. It's a LeGrande II. I see that Scotty has Emmons single coils in stock, so I'm thinking I'll just replace it. If not, I'll try it your way. |
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Steve Hitsman
From:
Waterloo, IL
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Posted 5 Jul 2006 2:36 pm
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| Got a new pickup and installed it myself... about like tying a Royal Wulff on a size 22 hook. I think next time I'll remove some pull rods first. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 5 Jul 2006 3:33 pm
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| I've got a soft spot in my heart for a 24 trico. Good job. Oh yeah, forgot to mention--watch out for those rods. |
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